1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of surfing reefs. More specifically, the preferred embodiment of the present invention involves a floating reef system adapted to float on or near the surface of an ocean to capture the energy of deep water swells and surface waves and transform the energy into preferred surfing waves.
2. Description of the Related Art
The sport of surfing has attracted enthusiasts all over the world. Many of them travel long distances to locations where ideal surfing conditions exist. Particularly prized by expert surfers are the waves called “the chute” or “the pipeline”, that is, waves which move with sufficient velocity and height that, when they encounter an upwardly sloping bottom of certain configuration, curl forward over the advancing base of the wave to form a tunnel, inside or at the mouth of which expert surfers move laterally across the face of the wave, seeking to keep pace with the formation of the tunnel without being caught in the collapsing portion thereof.
The formation of such waves under natural conditions requires a comparatively rare combination of factors, including wind of a certain constancy of velocity and direction, and waves of a certain velocity, direction and height, approaching a shore having a certain bottom slope and configuration. There are not many places in the world with such a favorable combination of characteristics. Surfers generally must travel several hundred to several thousand miles to reach such locations where the optimum conditions can exist. Because there are few places where succeeding waves can be counted upon to be uniform for extended periods, the places that do offer such waves are often overcrowded. When crowded conditions exist, instead of focusing entirely on riding a wave, surfers must also try to avoid encountering and injuring other surfers, which can dampen the quality of the surfing experience.
Since the 1970's, wave pools have been built to combat the problem of non-ideal wave conditions that exist in many areas of the world, and hence alleviate the overcrowded locations where optimum surfing conditions exist. Typically, a wave pool is a modified pool for swimmers without detailed design for surfing, but the waves produced are meant to peel, rather than close out. However, surfers have had mixed reaction to the existing pools, and most have rejected them due to poor surfing wave quality. Generally, wave pools have been disfavored due to the inadequately designed shape of the pool, which controls wave height in the pool, and the poor bottom, shape, which acts as the reef for the wave to break on. Additionally, to make waves break for surfing, the bottom of the wave pool must be similar to ocean surfing reefs. However, the space available for the wave conditioning prior to the breaking of the waves is not available in wave pools. Therefore, although advances have been made in wave pool design, the characteristics of waves produced in wave pools have yet to match the ideal quality waves desired by surfers around the world. Thus, there still exists a demand for technology that can produce waves with ideal characteristics while simultaneously providing a realistic surfing environment that is not overcrowded.
Man-made oceanic reefs have also been used to try and solve the problem of non-ideal wave conditions at various locations. However, the production of a man-made reef can require substantial amounts of time and labor, resulting in significant costs. Similarly, the creation of a man-made reef also requires careful government monitoring and approval, which can also contribute to a delay in completion. In a like manner, obtaining the land rights to create such a reef can involve much effort as well as cost, and could face delay from court challenges by conservation and environmental groups. Lastly, even if such a man-made reef were feasible, the time, effort, and costs associated would likely limit the creation of such reefs to locations that contain the resources to build the reef. While a possibility, this solution does not present an adequate means for allowing surfing and other recreational activities in various locations worldwide.
Another problem closely associated with waves and wave action is the problem of beach erosion. In many locations throughout the world, wave action can cause beach material (sand, soil, pebbles, rocks, etc.) to wash away into the ocean at a significant rate. Various efforts have been made to combat the problem of beach and reef erosion. However, these efforts have been time consuming, costly, and not produced adequate results. Thus, a demand exists for technology that can be utilized to help prevent beach and reef erosion.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to provide a relatively compact, mobile, and controllable free-floating apparatus that can capture and transform the energy of natural ocean swells, creating optimum wave conditions in any location for a variety of surf activities, including surfing, and can also be placed in proximity to an existing beach to help prevent erosion of the beach.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. In addition, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.